File:How carbon-containing material could be created on Mars ESA24873051.jpg
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This graphic shows how oddly ‘light’ carbon monoxide forms in Mars’ atmosphere, based on new observations from ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO).
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editDescriptionHow carbon-containing material could be created on Mars ESA24873051.jpg |
English: This graphic shows how oddly ‘light’ carbon monoxide forms in Mars’ atmosphere, based on new observations from ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). The TGO observations show that a process at play in Mars’ atmosphere forms carbon monoxide (CO) containing less ‘heavy’ carbon than we would expect. The finding is consistent with the idea that a combination of sunlight and complex chemistry, rather than life, gave rise to the carbon-based compounds (‘organic matter’) we see on the martian surface. Carbon dioxide (CO2) in Mars’ atmosphere is broken apart by sunlight, forming oxygen and CO. ‘Light’ CO2 is more easily broken down by sunlight than ‘heavy’ CO2, causing more ‘light’ CO to accumulate in the martian atmosphere. This suggests that the CO may then play a role in forming organic matter on Mars' surface, as this material was recently found to be equally enriched in ‘light’ carbon. ‘Light’ carbon, carbon-12, accounts for most of the carbon in the Solar System; ‘heavy’ carbon, or the isotope carbon-13, contains an extra neutron. Both are present in Mars' atmosphere. Measuring the relative amounts of each at Mars can reveal a great deal about an environment’s past and present as many short- and longer-term processes affect this ratio. For instance, on Earth, photosynthesis uses more ‘light’ than ‘heavy’ carbon, so plants and animals are often enriched in carbon-12. Excitingly, NASA's Curiosity rover has found carbon-12-enriched material on Mars’ surface; while martian biology is a possible cause, the new TGO results point in a different direction. More information Alt-text: Infographic showing how oddly ‘light’ carbon monoxide forms in Mars' atmosphere. It shows carbon dioxide molecules being split by sunlight to form carbon monoxide and oxygen, with an illustration of Mars' red-hued surface below. |
Date | 31 May 2023 (upload date) |
Source | How carbon-containing material could be created on Mars |
Author | European Space Agency |
Activity InfoField | Space Science |
Mission InfoField | ExoMars |
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This media was created by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Where expressly so stated, images or videos are covered by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO) licence, ESA being an Intergovernmental Organisation (IGO), as defined by the CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO licence. The user is allowed under the terms and conditions of the CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO license to Reproduce, Distribute and Publicly Perform the ESA images and videos released under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO licence and the Adaptations thereof, without further explicit permission being necessary, for as long as the user complies with the conditions and restrictions set forth in the CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO licence, these including that:
See the ESA Creative Commons copyright notice for complete information, and this article for additional details.
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![]() ![]() ![]() This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO license. Attribution: ESA (acknowledgement: work performed by ATG under contract to ESA), CC BY-SA IGO 3.0
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current | 02:00, 1 June 2023 | ![]() | 3,508 × 2,481 (1.4 MB) | OptimusPrimeBot (talk | contribs) | #Spacemedia - Upload of https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2023/05/how_carbon-containing_material_could_be_created_on_mars/24873040-6-eng-GB/How_carbon-containing_material_could_be_created_on_Mars.jpg via Commons:Spacemedia |
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Date metadata was last modified | 13:06, 10 May 2023 |
File change date and time | 09:06, 10 May 2023 |
Date and time of digitizing | 13:06, 10 May 2023 |
Software used | Adobe Illustrator 27.0 (Macintosh) |
Unique ID of original document | uuid:5D20892493BFDB11914A8590D31508C8 |